1:72 Bell X-2 Canopy Airbrush Mask For AZ Models

Three times the speed of sound and then the end

The Bell X-2 belonged to the family of American rocket research aircraft and was meant to answer the question of what happens to an aircraft beyond the point where the airframe starts to heat up from friction with the air. That is why it was built of nickel alloy and stainless steel instead of the usual duralumin. In the fall of 1956 its pilot became the first person to exceed three times the speed of sound with it, but the aircraft immediately went into uncontrollable motion and he did not survive the accident. Only two aircraft were built and the program ended with that.

A small window, high demands

In 1:72 scale the cockpit of the experimental aircraft is barely larger than a grain of rice, and the framing consists of a few strips a fraction of a millimeter wide. Tracing such an area by hand tends to end with the frame coming out twice its real width and the proportions of the whole silhouette shifting. A precisely cut film prevents that.

Handling small parts

Templates of this size are picked up with the tip of a moistened toothpick or with tweezers whose jaws have been smoothed, and certainly not with fingers. Once laid in place, press them down with the blunt end of a pencil so that the edge seats all the way around, and only then cover the surrounding area.

Do not forget the surroundings

Around a masked window there are plenty of places that sprayed paint reaches by bouncing off the work surface. It therefore pays to cover the whole front of the aircraft and to spray from a greater distance in lighter passes. On an aircraft with a smooth polished surface every grain of overspray shows, because it has nowhere to hide among the panel lines and rivets.